


2188 CE

by BlooregardJay



Series: 2188 CE [1]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Loss, Love, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reunions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21578947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlooregardJay/pseuds/BlooregardJay
Summary: The galaxy is forever scarred by the invasion of the reapers that shook every civilization to their core. One year has passed since the Battle for Earth, one year of healing. The crew of the Normandy has been invited back to the new Systems Alliance base in London for a ceremony being held in honor to thank them for their dedication to the Milky Way.
Relationships: EDI/Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Series: 2188 CE [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1555567
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	1. Return of the Shepard

**Author's Note:**

> I plan on spreading this into a series, I've been cooking this one up for a bit  
> Sporadic update schedule though, I work a lot I'm sorry

I start to chew unconsciously at my thumb nail as I watch the screen and see the destination coming up fast, a familiar unsettling feeling returning as I see the damaged skyline of London come into view. Haven’t been back in so long...not since the war. At least I’m in one piece this time. Well mostly. The anniversary came up faster than I ever thought it would, and god knows how much time it’s going to take to rebuild. Buildings start to fly by slower, Big Ben greeting us and he’s look as rough as _ever._ Landmarks aren’t top priority and boy, could he use a face lift. He was right by the Hades cannon that we took out. I can remember looking up at the clock face and time seemed to slow down as that heat cut right through my hard suit and I felt every piece of my skin start to-

I open my eyes, startled by the hand that touches the back of my neck and I look at Garrus, his brow furrowing at me. “Hey,” he says softly as he grips my chin through his fingers and caresses my jaw with his thumb. “Stay with me.” I smile weakly as he pulls my fleeting brain back down to him and I rub his thigh reassuringly. 

It comes and goes in waves, and it’s mostly within dreams. Never thought I’d be one to suffer from _that_ demon, and I hate that I do. He just keeps telling me “ _I’d be more worried if you didn’t”_ and “ _You survived a decade’s worth of trauma, you’re allowed to feel this way”_ . He’s a fortune cookie, only his shell is twelve-times harder. There’s nothing I want more than to help every second of every day with the relief efforts here, but I have tried _every_ channel I could to get early clearance and nothing. I “did enough during the war”, they said as I am denied a fifteenth time. Hopefully after today, they can cut the bullshit and let me help. If it wasn’t for Garrus helping Victus reassemble the hierarchy, then I guarantee that I would’ve driven him nuts by now. I’m almost as much a machine as EDI is and because of that, I’m basically on house arrest again, except instead of James watching my every move it’s Garrus. I couldn’t have asked for a better caretaker than him though. He gets his days where his leg is bothering him as much as mine, or his shoulder is click more than usual and yet he still won’t let me get up to get him something or to cook. “Approaching London HQ now,” Flix calls from his chair in the driver’s seat and I look away from Garrus to see the shining beacon of hope in the center of the UK. The Alliance’s new home base for Earth and the center of communications in a terribly-scarred galaxy. They even planted a beautiful garden at the front gate. 

We swing into a shuttlebay, Flix planting the ship carefully in a spot not too far from the front door and I roll my eyes, but I know he means well. He’s done a lot for us since we got to Palaven and I’m grateful to him, but he’s only twenty-two. He has such a long life ahead of him now, and he chose to be Garrus’ right-hand man in the military...which has missions like: Escorting Garrus and Shepard to Earth, running to Garrus’ home to help Shepard up off the floor, getting Shepard groceries _because_ he had to help her off the floor. Poor kid has been more of a nanny than a Lieutenant. He cuts the engine and heads straight to the door, shaking hands with the Alliance marines and joins them in a salute as Garrus extends a hand to help me out of the aircraft. He laces his fingers through mine and flares his mandibles at me, managing to pull a nervous smile from me as we strut towards the door. I nod to the saluting marines and they smile so widely at me, I can’t help but smile back. An entire year, and I still can’t grasp the damn thing. I’m just a soldier, doing what I was meant to do: protect those who can’t protect themselves. The enemies were a bit bigger and stronger than anything _anyone_ has ever encountered, but hey, we’re still here aren’t we? I’m going to be gawked at so much today, I feel like a fish at the aquarium. _Hopefully I won’t fall through this one._

I grip Garrus’ hand a bit harder, tugging it to slow him down as I hobble to keep up with him and he notices quickly as he looks down at me and chuckles lowly. “Sorry, love, I forgot for a moment. Just a bit..nervous is all,” he squeezes my hand twice tightly and I squeeze once more back as I snort. 

“I know I’m on your bad side, but people two meters away can hear me coming. How did you forget?”

“I’m used to hearing it by now, I’ve learned to tune it out.”

“Pfft, I’m shocked you haven’t tuned _me_ out yet then.” 

“Huh? Sorry, were you saying something?” I slam our hands into his hip as we laugh quietly to one another and Flix guides us towards reception, or at least I _think_ it is. There are dozens and dozens of people crawling all over the place, I’d swear there was something free being given out. It wasn’t just Alliance though, a bunch of other races have gathered as well. Haven’t seen that since the war and my heart feels warm just looking at every species run around in one place again. A few stop to watch us walk through and I lean heavier on Garrus and he feels it as he slings my arm over his and tucks my hand around his elbow for support as he pats my hand comfortingly. _Lots_ of eyes on us….I smile at those who catch my eye and many salute he and I as we turn a corner to find a desk with a communication specialist at it. She smiles at us and stands in her chair to salute, elbowing the marine next to her to get him to do the same as he stumbles out of his and he stares at me, wide-eyed. “Commander Vakarian. C-commander Shepard. What an honor,” well, he doesn’t just stumble on his own two feet it seems. I shake my head at him as I smile and extend a hand to shake his as he drops his salute to shake mine. 

“At ease, you two. We’re here for the memorial, clearly, but this place is massive so I don’t even know where to begin.” The woman nods and sits back down, tapping away on her terminal as I feel more eyes pull to us and I start to feel _exactly_ how I thought I would feel. _Here comes the gawking_. _I know I look like Wrex, now please take a glimpse and go thank you and have a nice day._ Garrus kisses the top of my head and I look up at him to see that look in his eyes. That “relax, I’m here” look. He knows I’m watching everyone. I really, at this point, don’t have a _clue_ what I would do without him in my life. I know for a fact I wouldn’t have survived this long and he likes to bust on me about it, so I won’t say it again to him. Spending the rest of however long I have left in this galaxy with him is my only wish. I promised him that once I’m completely fixed up that we could marry. I didn’t wanna walk up the aisle with a cane and have _that_ be a memory of our wedding. We might as well be married already, considering we’re referred to as such, but he wants to do it officially and traditionally. He’s always been the cheesy-romantic type and I can’t help but smile thinking of it.  
“Alright, looks like you two will be staying in block A, room 34 at the very end of the hall. The admiral had it entirely blocked off for the rest of the crew joining you in the coming days for the purpose of privacy. There’s no room service though, so the mess is right outside the doors on the left in case you get hungry. It’s stockpiled with dextro-based food as well, sir, so don’t worry about that. I’m going to transfer the door codes to your omni-tools and you are welcome to go up whenever.” We both open them and accept her request to send a transmission as the standing-marine glances at his console, tapping away quickly as he looks back up at us. 

“And uh, commanders, when you’ve settled, Hackett requested you go visit him on the fifth floor.”

“Thank you both for your help, it’s appreciated. Your names were…?” Garrus extends a hand to shake theirs and I do the same once more as the girl smiles at me and glances at my neck. _Oy._

“Officer Jill Brigandia. A pleasure.”

“Officer Harris, Will Harris. And I must say, Commander, you’re a hero. You and your entire crew. To all of us. Thank you.” He grips my hand in both of his as he stares at me, awestruck, and I let out the tiniest laugh as he pours his heart out. This is where I do poorly, what do I even say to that? You’re welcome? I am so terrible at this, how am I going to do this for a week...maybe longer. WHO KNOWS. He releases me and salutes us once more as we turn to walk away, Flix guiding us towards an elevator in the back of the room. It opens and we all step inside, and thankfully we’re not joined by anyone else as we descend upwards. I bring my hand up to pretend I’m just rubbing my neck as I feel the raised and oddly-soft skin against my fingertips. They did the best they could to regrow and heal the skin with the tools we had available, but there was only so much healing that could be done. I didn’t realize how terrible it was until days later when I could look in a mirror and I looked like a _pizza_ , only a very badly _burned_ pizza. I was covered head-to-toe in bandages and it apparently took over an hour to get me out of my hardsuit that I was locked into. Now I’m just left with a horribly-scarred body, but at least Garrus and I match now. He still swears that his face is worse, but I know he’s just being kind. He’s always being kind, he can’t help it. I’m grateful to it though, as stubborn as I am about how my body looks now. Turian eyes are apparently not as good as human eyes though. He would scold the shit out of me if I said that outloud.

The elevator opens to another smaller reception area, however there isn’t _nearly_ as many people as there was in the floor below us. “Blocked off by Hackett”, she said. Thank god. The man at this desk is a bit calmer as he stands and salutes us, pointing to the hallway to his right as we thank him and head on passed the two armed-guards that stand beside the doorway. Flix waves us on as he shakes hands with each of the guards and shots up a conversation with them as we search for where we’ll be staying. I mean...I could probably get away from an assailant, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a teeny bit comforted by the men with guns that cover the hallway. Some of us are still pretty banged up even after a year of healing, so it would be the perfect time to attack. I pray that no one _does,_ but after everything in the last few years, we learned to expect that absolutely anything could happen.

  
31...32...33…End of the hall, exactly as the comm officer said. Garrus beats me to it as he opens his omni-tool to unlock the door and extends his arm to motion for me to enter first. It looks almost identical to the apartment they housed me in when they had me on trial and it isn’t the most comforting thing, but it is a very nice place. I would say damn near cozy. At least my turian is here this time to keep me company and I can actually leave this place without being watched. Well, I know I’m not gonna get around this place without being watched by _every soul here_ , but this “being watched” is a bit different this time. It’s like I’m a different creature or something, the way they look at me. It’s in awe, like they’re surprised that I’m here, but trust me, I'm just surprised as they are that I actually survived all of that bullshit. 

I flop onto the couch, blowing away the hair that falls onto my face as I watch Garrus explore a bit. I can’t tell if he’s generally curious this time, or if he’s doing his checks again. He’s slowed down on it a bit in the last few months and I know he does it because he cares, but it’s damn close to paranoia. I won’t mock him though, we all have our compulsive tics and this one is his. I used to check my gear before getting it together, after packing it all up, on the shuttle, and before getting to the LZ. Now _that_ I got my balls busted hard for and _that_ I now consider paranoia. I couldn’t help it, just like he can’t help checking every single room for a surprise waiting for us. One of these days there will actually be something and he will pull the: “I TOLD YOU, THIS IS WHY I DO WHAT I DO” speech. And I will have to tell him he’s right. I gag at the thought as I watch him shut the fridge, coming to join me on the couch with two glasses of liquid. Orange juice? I mean it is still early in the day, maybe eight or nine in the morning so it’d make sense. He sits beside me, handing over the glass as he uses his free hand to pull my bad leg onto his lap and he begins to massage lightly in the dip of muscle that separates the flesh from the metal. I hum lightly as I sip it, the refreshing citrus flavor splashing my tongue and a warm feeling making me smile as I realize someone stocked our quarters with a few things for both of us. Unless Garrus feels like gambling his life here and now by drinking something that might poison him. He finishes off his and sets the glass on the coffee table, rolling up my pant leg to expose the robotic limb lying across his thigh until he reaches the skin that he was massaging. I watch his face as he moves his hand up to puckered skin below my kneecap, rubbing his thumb lightly along the mangled skin and he meets my eyes, tilting his head at me. “Bothering you today?” I shake my head as he gives me a dirty look and furrows his brow at me once more. “Then the limping was all in my imagination.” I laugh and bite the inside of my cheek as I lean my elbow on the side of the couch, shrugging as I prop my head up with my fist.  
“Just stiff is all. Sitting in the ship for an hour and not moving around makes it strain a bit. But if it gets you to keep rubbing right there, then I am in a _world_ of pain,” I wiggle my toes at him and he laughs, rubbing the skin once more as I close my eyes and start groaning a bit. The tightness begins to ease up as he presses a bit harder with his thumb and I lean harder on my fist. I could 100% fall asleep like this right now if he keeps it up. The silence is broken when I hear him clear his throat and I open one eye at him.

“We could always talk to-”

“Nope.” He cocks his head at me and looks at me, wide-eyed. 

“No what? How did you know what I was going to suggest?”

“This is nothing I can’t handle. I’ve dealt with worse pain before and I’ll be fine.” He digs circles around my knee cap as he stares at me, those bright blue eyes burning a hole in my heart as I smile pitifully at him. I know he worries, and I can’t fault him for that. I’m just tired of the painkillers, I have seen it go south one too many times. I don’t want to take one and then take one more and then eventually they stop working, so you move on to something stronger. That’s how the red sand dealers make their creds. I broke him twice already from leaving him, I don’t need to put that poison in my body and kill him. He has such a big heart and I give him a hard time for caring, but it’s because I have seen what I do to him. He stayed up with me every night in the hospital when I would wake up feeling like my skin was melting off again because I would move funny and the blanket would brush against an exposed piece. He’s woken up to screaming when I would get stuck in a terrible nightmare. I understand his worries...I feel awful for giving him such a hard time, but I know he’s understanding of my choices. He may not _like_ them or agree, but he understands. “Hey,” I brush my finger along his cheekbone and down to his chin as I rub my thumb over his beak. “We got this, Big Guy. You and me right?” He smiles slightly and kisses my hand as he rubs the back of my knee, my whole brain growing fuzzy as I lean back on my elbow and watch him. _Sweet jesus, I hope this is the rest of our lives. I can die happy now._ Nope, take that back, it wasn’t funny. 

I hear him hum loudly in his larynx and I raise an eyebrow at him as he continues staring at me and rubs my leg deeper. I look at him confused as he flares his mandibles twice at me and it pulls a small bubble of laughter from my lips as I smile. “What are you staring at?” He shakes his head and moves his hand up the bumpy, sensitive skin of my leg, his talons dragging on me raises goosebumps.  
“You are.. _.so beautiful_. I couldn’t help but stare,” I roll my eyes and laugh, covering his hand with mine.

“The scars drive me wild, and your kink is metal limbs? Just when I thought this relationship couldn’t get any stranger.” He laughs and squeezes the inside of my thigh with his thumb, watching me carefully for my discomfort, but I couldn’t feel any more relaxed. 

“I said it before and I’ll say it again: I love _every inch_ of you.” I smile at him again and I can feel the redness coming, but I continue on the conversation before he notices. 

“I would tell you to prove it, but Quintus doesn’t stay away for very long.” He closes his beak tightly, a stern expression coming across his face and it passes quickly as he notices me studying it. 

“True, but he’s just trying to help. Besides, I can lock the door.” His voice goes low as he cocks an eyebrow at me and I open my eyes widely at him, pretending to swoon as I put my hand to my chest. 

“Why, Commander Vakarian, are you trying to seduce me?”

“Well I don’t know, how is this for an answer?” Before I can even cook up a decent comeback, he grips my upper thigh and kisses me forcefully, his beak slightly nibbling my bottom lip. I smile through it, running my fingers lightly in the back of his collar and press deeply as I get closer to the back of his head and the long, low groan I intended to pull out of him is incredibly satisfying. His hand makes its way up to my torso as he uses the other to carefully push my leg aside to make room for his own and he slides one between my thighs, just grazing the front of my pants as I deepen the kiss by sliding my tongue right between the plates of his mouth. We breathe heavily into one another as his tongue wraps itself around mine and he slides his hand up my back to squeeze me even tighter to his body as I slide my leg up his thigh and run my foot along his back. He goes with my signals and grinds himself right against me, finally eliciting a quiet moan into his mouth as I’m rewarded with one from him and the vibration from his throat turns me on even more. He lays me back on the couch once more and he starts sneaking his hands up my shirt as he kisses my neck, carefully unbuttoning it. He hums once more against my neck and I bite my lip, his face coming into view as he slips his thumbs under both sides of my bra to lift it off. He doesn’t break eye contact as he lifts it high enough to reveal my ni-

“Vakarian, sir, it’s me.” A soft knock on the metal door causes two loud groans from both of us as I throw my head back, aggravated and he drops my bra back onto my boobs as he plants his face right between both of them, continuing to groan. We’ve both been in meetings for a _week_ now, and when we are alone, one of us is passed out with a tablet in hand. I won’t forget this, Quintus. I laugh at him as I shoo him off to allow me to rebutton my shirt and he scowls towards the door, opening his omni-tool to unlock it.


	2. Only Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing on with returning to London, Rikke and Garrus decide to pay Hackett a visit sooner rather and later. Too bad the news is almost enough to scare the commander back to Palaven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to hell with it, let's add the chapters onto this today. No writer's block yet, so let's pump this out.

“It’s open, Flix, come in.” Garrus calls out to him as he readjusts his own shirt, looking at me grumpily before we’re joined by his lieutenant. He’s followed by another turian, both of them carrying our bags in hand as they place them by the kitchen doorway and they both salute once they get their hands free. I nod and Garrus puts a hand up to dismiss them, the other soldier that we don’t know stares back and forth between us. Another nervous recruit it looks like.

“My apologies if I interrupted anything, I had to bring your things up and remind you of the invite up to Hackett’s office. I know there was a lot going on down there, I almost got lost trying to find the elevator again. He has meetings with the Council and Primarch Victus so it’s best you get up there now anyways. I think a lot of people caught wind of your arrival to London. Nearly double the foot traffic since you both got up here.” I sigh, the thought of dealing with _more_ people causing anxiety to bubble up in my chest as Garrus pulls my thumb out of my mouth. Didn’t even realize I was chewing on the nail again, oops.

  
“I appreciate it, Lieutenant, I got it from here,” Both turians salute us again as they take their leave and we’re left alone, Garrus turning to roll his eyes as I laugh at his annoyed expression. “It looks like we’ll have to continue this later.”

“Seems like it. Now come on, Hackett’s waiting. Let’s get this over with and maybe _after_ we can continue this.” He scowls at me as I stand and roll my pant leg down, standing tall on the tips of my toes to stretch my entire body. Two gigantic arms wrap around my torso and a head comes to rest on my shoulder as I lean back down on flat feet, curling my right arm to cradle his head onto mine and I smile. 

“I love you so much, do I tell you that enough?” My entire neck vibrates as he whispers to me once more and I reward him with a kiss to the top of his head.

“Every hour of every day. I love you too, baby.” 

“Every _hour_? Gotta step it up to every half then.” I roll my eyes and laugh at him as I pull out of his embrace, opening the door and heading through it before he does. I turn and just end up watching him walk towards me, which winds up getting me busted as he flares his mandibles and kisses the side of my head as we head out. Funny enough, people laughed when they caught onto the human-turian action because “turians are cold and rough” but I swear they’d gag more than I do at some of the horribly cheesy shit he says to me. About wanting to have kids with me, about wanting to get married, about loving me. Anything and everything, he has to make it cheesy. It’s not all mushy, lovey BS all the time though, I still get my balls busted _horrifically,_ but I already knew what I was getting myself into so that’s what I get for falling in love with my best friend, I guess. I wouldn’t have it any other way, even though Wrex calls my bluff on that and says when I “want a real man”, I can give him a call, but he is the _definition_ of being too much. We’re all too damn old anyways and Big Bad Wrexy is a father now, so I have about a dozen nieces and nephews running around Tuchanka that I can’t wait to see. I haven’t seen them in a few months so if he doesn’t bring them, I’m gonna throttle him. 

We get onto the fifth floor and we are greeted with _way_ more security than I have seen thus far, but it’s understandable. We get an ID check, a nice staring contest by that same guard, and I nearly pee myself laughing when he lets me pass through some sort of a detector that lights up like _Christmas_ when I walk through it. The officer’s eyes bulge at me as he jogs over, getting startled when the machine beeps loudly once more as Garrus passes through it. He shakes his head at my amusement as I shrug at the guards in front of me and they open their omni-tools to scan me manually, one of them beaming bright red as I lift my pant leg to reveal the metal limb I carry along as an accessory now. “Sorry gentlemen, but if you want me to remove it, then someone is gonna have to carry me around.” The soldier straightens up and shakes his head at me, his embarrassment stirring up pity in me as I recover my leg and smile at him. 

“I-I’m sorry ma’am, I didn’t mean to offend. I hadn’t realized.”

“No harm done, soldier. I can give you a list of everything on the two of us if you want.”

“Then we’re going to be here all day, Commander, and you have a meeting to attend.” I spin to see Hackett coming behind me and we smile at one another as he shakes Garrus’ hand and then shakes mine forcefully, grabbing my elbow as he does so. Not too much time has passed since I last saw him and I barely remember a time when he _didn’t_ have grey hair, but he’s looking especially aged now. War does that, and the man has been in the game for fifty _years_ now. If anyone is deserving of retirement, it’s him. Joker said there’s been whispers of him approaching me to replace him, but rumors are rumors. I don’t know how good I’d be at being an admiral, so I would probably pass that to Kaidan. He’s so level-headed and surpassed me in rank years ago after I was indisposed so he would be top pick. Hackett invites us into his office, hardback books lining the walls in a library-esque setting and motions for us both to sit as he takes a seat at his desk and takes his hat off. There is way more hair under there than I thought. “Welcome back to Earth, Commander. It’s good to see both of you.” He folds his hand on his desk and I nod in agreement.

“Good to see you as well, Admiral. It’s good to be back. There’s a long way to go with the repairs, but you got a lot done already.” A destroyer laser flashes across my brain and it cuts through me like it cut through the buildings. My blood runs cold as I take a deep breath and start focusing on Hackett as he speaks to get rid of the thought.

“That we do, but we have plenty of hands on deck that want to help. Engineers did the hard work of rebuilding some of our VIs and once they were back up, the mechs weren’t far off, so it sped up a lot of the process. Admiral Xen has actually extended a huge helping hand by sending her resources here to assist. I just had to promise her a decent fraction of the recovered reaper tech in return for her services.” Garrus and I both laugh as I roll my eyes.  
“Sounds like Xen. She knows what she’s doing though and she’ll no doubt share her findings with the Alliance. If not, I could get Tali to lean on her. Makes me happy that you’ve kept up the relations aspect of all of this though,” He sighs under his breath as he purses his lips and runs a hand over his beard. I watch him carefully and squint, trying to figure out exactly what he’s thinking of telling me. “Is there something you wanted to tell me, sir?” He looks to his terminal and taps at it for a second, but doesn’t look up at me. So hard to read him. I mean I’ve served under him for a long time, but I don’t know him as well as I knew Anderson. Hackett wasn’t one for fraternizing, even in friendly terms. _Only_ with Anderson, but that’s because they fought alongside each other eons ago. He finally makes eye contact with me once more and leans straight up in his chair, clearing his throat. 

“Well speaking of intergalactic relations, I was contacted recently by the asari and salarian councilors. Unfortunately, Councilor Quentius is MIA, being that his last known location was the Citadel when it was taken by the reapers and therefore named a casualty as well. The Council is making an attempt to reconnect with the remaining civilizations of the Milky Way. They were both in disagreement when discussing bringing other races in but eventually agreed to invite the krogan in once again after I told them they have no place to turn them away when they’ve come so far and earned their spot. I advised them to speak with you about who they should choose, considering Wrex only trusts you and your opinion.” I nod and see Garrus lean forward out of the corner of my eye.

  
“Wise decision, and a much-needed hand on the Council. The Rebellions got them into that mess in the first place, but the krogan we know today are completely different than their predecessors. They can’t deny them a spot because of what Kredak did two thousand _years_ ago.” I nod in agreement with him and Hackett does as well before clearing his throat. Something else?

  
“I couldn’t agree more. But they didn’t just contact me to discuss krogan expansion and their place in politics, Shepard. Both councilors asked for my input about a human councilor, considering his seat has yet to be wiped clean and filled with someone of better character. I wasn’t much of a fan of Udina’s, but that seems to be a popular opinion. However, they want me to put in a formal approval request to put you in the seat.” My jaw hangs down and I can’t find the words to pull them out of my throat. Me, a councilor? This is just a big joke….They can’t really think that _I_ would make a good councilor. Can they? They’re just trying to find a quick bandaid to this without thinking straight about it. That’s like giving a chef a scalpel and telling them to do heart surgery. I know I defeated the reapers and I know I brought the races together, but that doesn’t make me a diplomat. I was desperate, I needed a solution to save the rest of the galaxy. I turn to Garrus for reassurance that I’m not crazy and that heard him right, and he stares at me just as stunned as I am. I shake my head and try to come up with any way to make sense of this. 

“Wait..me? They want _me_ to be on the Council, as a human councilor? Sir, I’m not a politician, I’m a soldier that gets lucky, I don’t know the first thing about law making or...or politician.. _stuff_. This is insane, they can’t be serious.” He grimaces and folds his hands once more at his desk as he looks at me with utmost sincerity.

“I beg to differ, Shepard, I believe you’d thrive in this. They said Victus would make a terrible primarch because he’s no politician and he doesn’t play it close to the book and look at him. He’s the best they have seen in years. You have high investments in the jobs they call ‘impossible’ and you get shit done. You ended a thousand-year war between man and machine, and you did what no one else could. Got the krogan to cooperate with not one, not two, but _three_ different races. If it was me, and I asked the turians for help but they insisted on krogan cooperation, I would’ve told the turians ‘tough’ and gave up there because the reapers were easier to kill than to get the krogen to cooperate. Yet here we are, because you were in charge. You unite people, kid, you never take no for an answer and you’re damn good at what you do.” I grow more and more defeated as his argument goes on and I feel my shoulders sag heavily as I listen to him. He’s right, but I got lucky. Wrex is a good friend of mine and I was there to help when he needed it, so I got lucky that Mordin was his contact and was able to undo his own STG work. Tali is an expert on the geth and one of the few quarians who wasn’t hellbent on destroying them to win the war because she knew Legion as well as I did, so I got lucky after helping her get her homeworld back. Maybe he’s right...maybe I should live out retirement behind a desk and deal out orders to others to better the galaxy. Bailey would have been better at this. I could use his distaste for diplomats right about now. I take in a deep breath and play with my fingers before looking back up at Hackett once more.

“I appreciate your kind words, sir, thank you. That settles that then. I suppose I can formally discuss it with them when they get here, see how we go about moving forward with this.”

“I would congratulate you then, Shepard, but that means I would’ve had to have sent a letter of encouragement to Arissa and Esheel. Thing is, Commander. I sent a compelling opposition to them instead,” Garrus stares at me as I stare wide-eyed at Hackett and can’t really find the words again as he smiles at me, taking in a long breath as he stands out of his chair. He faces the bookshelf and grabs a picture frame that sits in the alcove and turns to us once more. “This is strictly off the record and between us. But you have something not many people get, Shepard. Some soldiers die in battle and fulfill their duties to their people by sacrificing themselves to save someone else, others sadly live stuck in the past and so crippled with PTSD that the only answer they can think of is intoxication. You, however, have survived so many things that would have otherwise ended in one of those two things. I would call _that_ luck, but after the first twelve times, well. It’s safe to say you were meant to be here all along. I buried myself in my loyalty to the Alliance and that has cost me more friends and loved ones than I can count. You managed to come out on top, alive, with all of those things and _still_ have more opportunities awaiting you. Anderson is the reason you were welcomed into the N7 program, he and I were the reasons you became the first Spectre, and we chose you to lead us to victory against the reapers. I won’t be responsible for you burying yourself in council business and losing the family you worked so hard to have now. Anderson would never forgive me.” I laugh weakly through the tears that have welled in the corner of my eyes, wiping them away quickly as he hands me the picture and he takes a seat once more. I study it for a good minute and smile widely as Garrus studies it too, laughing a bit as he realizes we’re looking at the two greatest admirals of our time in their initiate days. Anderson never kept that much hair for as long as I’ve known him so to see him with a crewcut is baffling. Hackett isn’t wrong though. David would be so disappointed in me for not taking the opportunity to retire. 

_I think you’d make a great mother. Think how proud your kids would be...telling everyone their mom is Commander Shepard._

I can almost feel his head on my shoulder again and I can feel that same feeling bubble up in my chest as the tears get hot behind my eyes. I flare my nostrils and close my eyes tightly to stop them as I put the picture back on his desk. Garrus takes my hand in his as he watches me and I give it a good squeeze as I look at Hackett once more. “I don’t know what to say, Admiral. A million thank you’s maybe but again, we’d be here all day then. But seriously...thank you,” he smiles and stands, reaching out to shake my hand as I mimic his moments. 

“There’s no reason to thank me just yet. I’m giving you the advantage by telling you now so that the councilors don’t blindside you when they get here. They’re gonna try to persuade you into it, but that depends on you to listen or not. You’re more than welcome to retire and start your family, or stay in Alliance ranks and do the same. The choice is yours to make, Commander. Now go rest up, there’s going to be plenty of talking tomorrow so go enjoy time with your crew tonight,” Garrus and I both salute him before leaving the room, my body feeling nearly weightless as I walk to the elevator. I wasn’t _going_ to retire. We talked about it, sure, but I don’t know how good I’ll be at the retired life. I didn’t mind the meetings about restoring the galaxy or talks of studying the tech that was left behind, I felt useful _doing_ something to help. All I did was lay around and read for the first six months after the war ended because my entire body was still healing. For my birthday, we ended up going to Omega since it was one of the only functioning civilizations at the time and _that_ is saying something. Joker and EDI surprised us there, we went out for drinks and Aria joined us for a bit, it was an overall great night. It got even better when I got home and Garrus secretly had a custom library built into our office, stocked it to the _brim_ with actual books. Most of them were the ones I had strewn around the place already, but there were so many more to dive into. I still owe him for that, as much as he likes to say I don’t, but I supposed finally settling down like we’ve talked about would be the way to go. Funny, Garrus always said he wanted to retire somewhere warm and relaxing...I guess we can start looking for new places once the paperwork is filled out. There is still so much to do now though, so many planets are still in shambles. I’m just so tired. The elevator doors opening snaps me out of my train of thought as we head down the hall to our room.

I stare at the panel confused as it’s already open and I look to Garrus who shrugs at me. Flix maybe? We both enter, the pit in my stomach disappearing as I shake my head at our intruders who made themselves comfy on our couch. “‘Hey, Joker, we just got onto base, why don’t you come visit? I know you live here and all.’ Thanks for the invite, assholes,” I jog to the couch as he struggles to stand and he can’t help but drop his anger as he smiles at me and hugs me tightly. I knew I’d miss my crew without a doubt, but there is nothing that warms me more than hugging him. Like I said, healing is boring and lonely.

“We had to go up to see brass before we did anything, sue us.” Garrus shakes Joker’s hand and pulls him into a half hug as he beats me to an answer and EDI grabs my hand to pull me into a hug as well. She wears normal clothes these days and it throws me off everytime to not see everyone in fatigues all the time, but the only thing separating her from us is the lack of organic material at this point. She’s more human than a lot of _humans_ I’ve encountered. Garrus sits on the couch and I join him as EDI takes her place beside Jeff on the loveseat, her hand automatically moving to find his. I smile at the sweet gesture and he pretends to scratch his nose as he flips me off slyly.

  
“It’s good to see you again, Shepard. Physical scans indicate your healing has been going well?” I give her back my attention as I nod and look to my leg, flexing it as she watches.

“I think so, yeah. It doesn’t feel as strange as it used to. Just gotta get used to the staring is all. I can’t say I blame them though, I look like Wrex.”

“I disagree. You resemble Kalros more closely, she was riddled with scarification and burns from the Tuchankan atmosphere,” The room erupts in laughter as she watches me with that goofy smile and I can’t help but laugh along. Joker molded most of her humor from their interactions over the years and I swear she gets funnier the longer the two of them are together. I would never in a million years tell him that though. “I would explain myself, but it appears that everyone understood my joke.”

“I would get upset at you calling my girlfriend ugly, but you disagreed with her when she said she looked like Wrex. Kalros though? _Gorgeous._ ” I elbow him in the chest as I shake my head and roll my eyes before leaning back onto his shoulder, his hand moving to mine. Joker makes a fart noise and rolls his eyes. 

“She’s way out of your league. Speaking of ‘leagues’, EDI is in ours now, surprise!” I stare at him confused, as he does spirit fingers at us, and EDI smiles widely as she stands and salutes. “Cyber Defense Expert, Edith Moreau, as approved by Admiral Hackett himself.”


	3. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After revealing her new role within the Alliance to Garrus and Rikke, EDI explains to them the politics behind Hackett's decision and the reason for keeping things so quiet from the rest of the Normandy family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for waiting SO long to post this chapter, the holiday weekend usually keeps me occupied. But I would like to thank those of you who left generous comments and threw me a few kudos, it means a lot! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, enjoy!

I jump forward in my seat and my mouth hangs open like a fish as she nods and sits back down, opening her omni-tool as she connects to our TV to show her a picture of her holding a plaque with Hackett by her side. EDI in Alliance blues. Who would’ve thought.

“Holy shit, EDI no way! This is incredible, when did this happen?”

“And we weren’t at the ceremony? I’m hurt, Jeff.” 

“It was a snap decision by Admiral Hackett one month ago. When the reapers were destroyed and Jeff returned here, there was much the Alliance scientists did not understand. I volunteered my help in the department and Hackett saw me as: ‘invaluable’. He did not know how to thank me for my help, therefore he approached me about a position within the Alliance ranks. He even went as far as to have a new law made up. He called it: ‘The Humanity Document’.” I stare at her wide eyed as a million and seven questions float through and I zero in on a small one instead. 

“Humanity Document?” She smiles as she shifts in her seat and I have only seen her do that one time, back when we discussed her thoughts on being with Joker. She’s excited. 

“The law entails that those who have received approval to sign the proper paperwork written by Hackett himself are now allowed clearance to be within the Alliance ranks. The Alliance only allows humans within it, and I, myself, am not one. Hackett took advantage of the disarray in your ranks to secretly have the new law made and have me be the first to receive the honor. Formal documentation was written and I was officially declared a human.” 

“Wait a minute, EDI. So you’re saying Hackett went out of his way to do this as a loophole to get you within the ranks of the Alliance?” 

“Correct. The admiral stated that my work is not to go on without notice and working to further help the galaxy deserves proper resources. He knew many would be conflicted, so he took it into his own hands. He said he ‘barely understands computers’, so having my help with the reaper technology was the only fair decision. He wanted me to be noticed for my work.” I shake my head in disbelief as my brain starts to put the pieces together. So the admiral took the decision to make EDI  _ officially  _ by  _ documentation _ a human and he ran with it, just so she can technically be a member of the Alliance? Never once has there ever been someone within rank that wasn’t human, and I guess EDI kind of takes that honor. It’s amazing, in all honesty, and very well deserved. She has done more for this galaxy than  _ I  _ have, at least I think so. She’s blocked Cerberus access to countless things during the war, she’s saved the Normandy multiple times and in turn, saved thousands. Even during the Citadel attacks, she was instrumental in stopping Cerberus from seizing control. 

“I get why they kept it quiet though, humans might still be wary of AIs,” Garrus throws in his two-cents as I continue to look EDI up and down, shaking my head slightly as I smile. Funny, just thought to myself that she was more human than most people I know. If I can tell the future now, I’m gonna be  _ pissed _ . Where was this years ago? “So what’s the next plan,  _ Mrs. Moreau _ ?” I snap my head to Garrus and he flares a mandible at me and winks. Mrs. Moreau? Oh my god, he just snuck that in there when he repeated her title to us...Son of a bitch. I look to both of them, raising an eyebrow at Jeff as he smiles slyly and shrugs his shoulders. 

“I was wondering when you two shitheads would catch on. EDI was allowed to accept her title and sign somewhat of a ‘birth certificate’, so she chose her name. It’s not  _ official _ , don’t go blowing a gasket about a wedding.” She smiles and nods agreeing as she opens her omni-tool once more to throw the certificate on the screen and my eyes nearly pop from how wide I open them when I look to her full name.

“ _ EDI _ , that middle name looks familiar.” 

“Jeff has a middle name, as do many humans, so I was encouraged by him to choose one of those as well as a first and last. Edi is a short version of the name ‘Edith’, logically I chose that. When searching for a middle, I thought to search through Old English texts where the name ‘Edith’ originates, however I wanted it to mean something to me like the rest of my name does.” I smile at her, feeling myself almost blush as bit as she continues to humble me.

“So you chose Rikke?”

“Correct. It was the only option.” Ya know, for a machine that was programmed to have things make her believe she’s feeling something, she is pretty damn convincing. She doesn’t need the artificial skin, but I swear if she’d have that like the original mech did, you wouldn’t be able to discern her from an actual human. She absolutely deserves this, but I’m still baffled that Hackett did all of this. He’s old school, First Contact vet and everything, but I guess this war had a way of desensitizing everyone since the enemy was a bit strange. Strange isn’t  _ really  _ the proper way to describe them, considering they used our own people against us, so diabolical would be a better word, I guess. It was, sadly, a decent tactic to use. “Never run out of cannon fodder”, Garrus said, and shit, was he right. A Brute I would take down with a thermal clip or two, they were pretty slow because of their size. But the worst ones were the Banshees. That scream cut right through me every single time I heard it and they look the most like the host they were twisted out of and made from, so killing one was...difficult. Seeing that gigantic frame slink down off a building and blinking towards you, nearly getting all five of those claws buried in your torso because you didn’t pay attention to the other one behind you. I can hear Garrus screaming my name across the street to get me to dive out of the way of her grasp, thankfully just getting nicked in the back by those talons. She chose to embed them in a commando’s chest instead when she got in between us. That wet, guttural sound that came from her when-

Garrus touches my back softly with his hand, rubbing his thumb across my spine to pull me out again as I look to him and then to our guests who both look at me like two deer in headlights. “Sorry, off in another world. What were you saying?” Jeff adjusts his hat on his head and clears his throat as EDI tilts her head to the side as she watches me. Body scans again, I can tell. I take a few quiet breaths to slow my pulse and relax a bit before she can comment on it. I would rather  _ not _ have this end up in a discussion, because god knows it will and I really don’t wanna have that talk. I know my brain, I know it kicks me into the episodes at the absolute  _ worst _ times, but it could be worse. I could be dead, trapped in that eternal sleep like I was years ago and like so many are now. So many dead or missing that we’re still getting numbers in from everywhere. Nope, next topic. I lean into Garrus’ shoulder as he wraps his arm around me, his chest rising and falling as he breathes calming me. “Joker?” He raises his eyebrows at me and shrugs as he opens his omni-tool.

“I wasn’t saying much, just talking about the next few days. Tomorrow at about 1300 is the ceremony, they’re doing a tour of Normandy after that, and then Hackett’s got a dinner planned for us at 1900.  _ But _ tonight we have time to do whatever we want, and I planned on kicking back and hangin’ with you guys.” 

“Sounds good to me. I’m gonna be terrorized by the Council and every other official tomorrow apparently, so I could use the R and R tonight. Councilor Quentius was on the Citadel the last time anyone saw him. Presumed dead.”

“Damn, three turian councilors in less than a decade. Wonder how many humans we’ll go through before one sticks.” I cringe at him heavily and he looks at me funny. I mean I guess now is as good a time as any to spill the beans.

“Well if my conversation with Hackett ended differently, I would’ve hoped just the one….He told me they want me as the next human councilor.” Joker’s eyes open wide as he stares at the floor, blowing harshly through his mouth.

“Well good luck dealing with  _ that.  _ Those pompous assholes just wanna move past their reign of stupidity that got us here.  _ Now _ they want your voice to be heard?  _ Now _ they want your help fixing everything because _ they _ fucked up in the first place? Don’t get me wrong, I think you’ll be great at it, but jeez, Ri….You’re not thinking of just hanging it up?” I shrug and bite the inside of my lip, Joker’s honesty hitting me like a bat to the head. He’s not wrong, of course. They ignore my evidence for  _ years _ , and then when the reapers actually show up, they throw me at them as if I had any  _ clue  _ how to stop them. I knew they were coming, that’s pretty much it. But now I’m sure they want help to try and fix everything after the reapers tore through us as quickly as they did, but I did my part. I got us to victory, I fought my way through hundreds of battlefields and walked away from a lot of them. I want to enjoy the rest of the life I have left with Garrus without any more added stress. I know that is so much easier said than done….

I look up to Garrus and he just studies my face for a second before running his fingers through my hair, his jaw twitching just the slightest bit. I’m way overdue to get a good haircut. It’s nearly passed my shoulders now, but considering a lot of it got burned off my head, I’m a bit keen on keeping it long now. The huge bald patch over my right ear is almost the same length as the rest again. When we get to our new retired destination, maybe then I’ll get it cut, but there will be much more to discuss before the length of my hair. He was just promoted not long ago in the military and I don’t want to take that away from him. I know he enjoys waking up and figuring out the next course of action on the rescues, he says it makes up for when he felt he couldn’t do anything to help Palaven back on Normandy. I did everything I could to convince him otherwise, but pfft, I thought  _ I  _ was stubborn. God forbid biology somehow allows us to procreate, the sheer stubbornness of that kid will be aggravating. One conversation at a time though. I might give him a heart attack with the retiring one, so we’ll see how that one goes first. It’d be nice to just wake up, have our coffees on a porch that overlooks a nice beach, maybe have a farm of our own like my parents did. My dad taught me a thing or two, we could probably get good at it if I find a few books and extranet sites. “What do you think, Big Guy? See us being civilians anytime soon?” I smile as he raises his brow bone and tilts his head the slightest bit, appearing to start pondering the idea as he looks everywhere around the room except at me. He’s not really much of an on-the-spot decision maker, he’s too calculative for that. He has to sit there and weigh his options carefully, know every aspect for both sides of it. It isn’t a bad trait to have, he’s way more cautious than I am. I just know he would want to think about this before jumping into it. Plus, he isn’t one for “relaxation”. If he isn’t working, he’s sleeping. 

“We’ve been at it for so long, I might have forgotten how to be one, but I think I could manage. We could finally write our autobiographies as if _ anyone _ is going to believe any of it, or maybe learn how to knit.” I laugh slightly at his joke and shrug, tossing around the idea of sitting there with a blanket in my lap like an old lady. So much time and work to go into one small thing...and yet I have  _ hundreds  _ of model ships lying around and hundreds more that I still have left to do. If it exists, there’s most likely a model for it. Maybe I could convince him to build those with me, he seems patient enough. 

“Knitting isn’t really my thing, but I could always use a hand with my models.”

“You, Rikke Shepard, Captain of the Normandy and Hero of the Galaxy are going to let  _ me  _ touch your  _ models?  _ Are you feeling alright?” He cups my face in his hands and I push him off at me as we laugh. You smack someone’s hand  _ one time  _ for touching your stuff. Knew I was never gonna live that one down….Hopefully our new place has a study or a spare room so I can stop littering the house in all of my stuff. I rigged six shelves to fit a majority of them, but some still sit in our room or the living room without a home because there’s no where  _ to  _ put them. It’s more of an apartment so to say, it’s not very big, but it’s two bedrooms and we make due. He’s able to get his work done and I finish about a model a day if I don’t paint it. Maybe if I get him into the hobby though, he won’t nag me about “not needing another one”.  _ He doesn’t know me, he doesn’t know what I need and don’t need. _

“And just for that, I hope your blanket looks dumb when you’re done  _ knitting it.”  _ He gasps in fake shock as I get up and head to the fridge, digging out the few beers that were hidden in the back as I make a mental note to thank Flix for it later. I don’t one hundred percent for sure know if it was him or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Strangest lieutenant I’ve met considering he cares more about his CO than his actual position in the military. He is constantly asking if Garrus personally needs anything at home or just in general, he cares so deeply. He’s become a good friend to us, I owe him heavily.

Joker pulls up a news channel on our TV as I sit back down on the couch with a groan. Garrus looks to me and runs his talons over my thigh as he pops open his beer and then mine. There is one reason and one reason only that I hate the news so damn much. __

“ _ Good Morning, Milky Way! Hope everyone is doing well out there today. For those of you joining us for the first time, I’m Spencer Tredyusif with your morning news and galaxy updates, today and every day. Today we have a special episode planned for all of you. This week marks the first anniversary of the most remarkable moment in this galaxy’s history: the Battle for Earth, a moment that everyone will remember until the end of time. There was history being made every day before our very eyes by a group of incredible people who were dedicated to saving every person in this galaxy. The Alliance planned a ceremony to honor the legendary team of the SSV Normandy SR2 and its captain, Commander Rikke Shepard tomorrow morning as tribute to their outstanding efforts.” _

Yep. There it is. 

_ “ _ Oh finally! They’re gonna talk about the little people that helped save the galaxy.” 

“Though there were millions of people involved in our success, Rikke independently got the Catalyst to work in order to enable the Crucible to destroy the reapers.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Joker scoffs as his jokes are  _ quickly  _ shut down and I roll my eyes at the old married couple bickering. I would  _ much rather  _ her be talking about Jeff, I am so tired of hearing my own name. 

_ “Admiral Hackett is due to retire the Normandy itself as well as award each and every member of the crew for their tireless efforts to stop the reapers. Major Kaidan Alenko, Flight Lieutenant Jeffrey Moreau, medical consultant Karin Chakwas, chief engineer Greg Adams, Admiral Tali’Zorah vas Rannoch, Commander Garrus Vakarian, Doctor Liara T’Soni, and clan chief of Tuchanka Urdnot Wrex will all receive medals to award them for their loyalty and achievements while being by Shepard’s side and working to stop rogue Spectre Saren Arterius. Commander Shepard is to be given a medal in her name to honor her hard work and dedication to saving the Milky Way. She has come a long way since the supposed ordinary mission on Eden Prime took a dark turn, costing many people their lives and ushered in the turning-tide of war when it was discovered these unfathomable AIs would soon set their sights on the Milky Way. At the time, no one believed any evidence brought to their attention about the unknown enemy, which in turn, led to a seizure of the Citadel. This foul up by our late Council members brought upon the eventual death of thousands, only to prove the Commander’s theories to be fact.” _

I scoff and take another sip of beer.  _ “ _ And yet they blamed the geth.”

_ “ _ When in doubt, blame the murder bots.” 

_ “Even after the destruction of the Zakera wards and the casualties lining up, the Council chose to cover up the proof of the reapers by issuing a statement that instead of the flagship known as Sovereign taking the Citadel, they wrongfully stated that it was a geth dreadnought.” _

My jaw falls open a bit as I look to Joker who is staring at me with the same face and I just feel like laughing. Everyone sees this, and I know for a fact that this program has been popular with people post-war. They have solid stories and information, but I think I heard a story about me twice a day for a month so I stopped watching. I  _ might  _ just start watching again for this anchor. I’ll give it to her, she has  _ balls  _ breaking the law on intergalactic television, but this wasn’t just  _ any  _ law. “Does she know that was considered classified information at the  _ highest _ -known level?” I glance between Jeff and Garrus, whose jaw is hanging open like I am and he shrugs, shaking his head as he leans forward on the couch. 

“I know people have eyes, there were plenty who saw Sovereign there, but that was untouchable stuff. Spectre clearance and a waved motion by an official is needed to get to the good stuff, and  _ that  _ was deep in there.” I shake my head as well and take a long pull from my bottle. 

“If she’s Alliance, she’ll be lucky if she’s just court-martialed. They might pull a Shep-treatment and throw her to the wolves to let her get eaten alive,” Jeff looks at me and then looks to EDI. “Anyway they’ll let this slide?”

“Being that the Council only has two members left living, I do not believe their first priority will be arresting Miss. Tredyusif for leaking information now proven to be true. However, the Council can have her convicted of an unauthorized disclosure of classified information.” He cringes as we all return our attention to the TV. 

_ “...Even after bringing the eventual evidence to their feet once more, Shepard was turned away and had no choice but to make an alliance with the known-terrorist group, Cerberus. Dishonored and disgraced, she returned to a new ship and new equipment in order to continue the work that she was brought back for. She recruited many people to fight by her side, some were old friends who joined her on the Normandy SR1 and later joined her on the SR2. Some were new faces like the AI aboard Normandy named EDI, rogue Cerberus operatives Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, procurement specialist Steve Cortez, First Lieutenant James Vega, infamous mercenary Zaeed Messani, Engineers Gabrielle Daniels and Kenneth Donnelly, Alliance Biotics Division coordinator Jacqueline Nought, the late STG agent Mordin Solus, communications specialist Samantha Traynor, leader of the Aralakh mercenary company Urdnot Grunt, master thief Kasumi Goto, well-known assassin Thane Krios, geth informant Legion and famed asari justicar Samara. Even though they joined the causes late in the game, they, too, have been invited to tomorrow’s events and will also be receiving medals to thank them.” _

I squint at the TV, confused again for a minute. Some of the things I believed were common knowledge just because I was watched closely the last few years, but there is absolutely no way this regular person would have known about the “dead” thief or the geth I kept in the closet…. “Who do you think is feeding her this stuff?” I look around the room and just get blank stares as the silence becomes louder than the TV volume and Garrus finally shrugs as he comes to a theory. 

“My guess is one of two people. First possibility is Diana Allers, who is nosy and would have known nearly everything since she was eavesdropping on us every chance she got.  _ But _ she has her own network that rivals this one, so I would count her out for bargaining information. Second guess? Kasumi, because she sees  _ everything  _ and information can be expensive, so she probably sold the secrets and told the reporter to keep quiet about her being alive and well.” I rub the back of my neck, weighing both possibilities as my brain seems to weigh more on Kasumi being the informant because it’s the only logical one. Allers wouldn’t give her competitor an edge over the ANN. 

“Eh, I mean it’s possible. They have a lot in common. They like secrets, like credits.”

“The only difference is that I like Kasumi.” 

“Aw, I like you too, Garrus.” My neck nearly snaps from how fast I whip my head around to the voice behind us and Jeff spills beer on himself as the now-uncloaked figure sitting at the bar in the kitchen smiles at us. Kasumi fucking Goto. Known thief, massive pain in my ass, and soon-to-be-cause of my death if she keeps the Halloween scares up. She could make a mint off the jumpscare thing, and business would be booming for her. I stand to greet her as she jumps from the stool she sits at, smiling as she comes around the side of the couch to hug me and she removes her cowl as she does so. She’s lost weight since last I saw her, but it could be the pixie cut giving her that illusion. Considering we checked in here a few hours ago, I’m just incredibly curious as to how she managed to sneak in here without anyone hearing the door. 

“How long have you been hiding here and how did you manage that without the advanced AI noticing you?” She gives an exhausted huff as she lays in the lounge chair next to the couch, throwing her feet over the edge of the armrest. 

“Honestly, I just snuck through. Couldn’t crack the security system, which is  _ very _ new to me, but I have a guess as to why now. So I searched for local Omni-tools to find some codes and pinged a few I recognized. I got the notification that you left your room so I decided to head up.”

“Your cloaking device alerted me when you walked through the front door, but you pose no threat. I am pleased to know the security measures are indeed working properly.” EDI smiles at her and Kasumi gives her a wink. I’m not surprised in the  _ least  _ by her, but what do you know, Kasumi Goto already back to her antics. I would’ve liked a proper hello, but it just isn’t her way. She isn’t necessarily a people person and I have caught her lurking around areas she shouldn’t be instead of enjoying quality time with her friends. She’s been kept pretty occupied by the government of  _ every  _ race, and that’s all thanks to her gift of finding things. Last we spoke, she said she was working with Liara to find another stasis pod that was discovered by elcor scientists and kept secret so that they could study them. Liara’s been studying the science ever since we found Javik and she wouldn’t have been able to know she made a breakthrough until a surviving pod was found. Gotta remember to ask her later when she gets here. For her sake, I genuinely hope it did. She went back to Eden Prime a couple months ago with a few old colleagues of hers to dig up anything Cerberus might have passed up and she found a beacon that was very damaged by the drilling equipment, but it was well enough to get the information off of it to send to me. It was actually from a research team, putting together the last of the beacons to be found by a later civilization. One speaks of the crucible and prays of it construction being finished in order to save them all. Just that single conversation was all I saw though, since it was damaged. She beat herself up for not looking sooner on the planet that started it all, but how would she have known? The mission briefing I got made Eden Prime sound like a normal cakewalk, but  _ here we are.  _

I finish off my beer and put the canister on the table, turning my attention to the television once more. The room grows disturbing quiet besides the sounds of screams as the shaky footage of a reaper touching down to Earth turns black when I open my omni-tool and turn it off. It’s a no from me. They all instead turn their attention to me as I shrug and stand once more, heading towards the fridge to check the beer situation. “EDI, who else has checked into the building from our crew?” Maybe seven beers in here, four being dextro. I glance to the counter and see a lone bottle of wine, a bow tied to it with a note reading: “ _ Thief-turned-war hero. Who would’ve thought? Thanks, Shep. PS-that TV is nicer than mine, Hackett won’t miss it.”.  _ I look to Kasumi and she smiles, shooting me with a finger gun as I laugh at her. No one would’ve thought, Kasumi, trust me. 

“Wrex, Grunt, and Bakara have just landed. Alliance guards were asked to guide them to this corridor immediately after arrival. James had a meeting with the coordinators of tomorrow’s events, but appears to be free afterwards. Gabby, Ken, and Steve do not have any further engagements.” 

“Send them all invites to come on up, the day is still young. We all have some catching up to do. Throw a suggestion to bring up alcohol in the invite to James, see if he’s feeling generous enough to bring some up.” I grab the remaining beer and put it on the coffee table, looking to EDI as she opens her omni-tool and we smile at one another as she closes it again. We don’t get together as often as we all should, what with the galaxy being in shambles still and all. I think the last time we were all in the same room was when I was finally cleared to go home with Garrus. I was confined to a bed for weeks but burn wounds, damaged cybernetics, and a missing limb don’t really heal overnight, so the night before I was allowed to leave, everyone stopped by. Grunt and James smuggled in drinks, Steve brought cards and we all got a little intoxicated. That poor hospital staff….I might be saying “these poor Alliance guards” after tonight.


End file.
